When we look back on the 2012 F1 season in photos and yearbooks, we will wince at the ugliness of the cars, especially the nose sections. Luckily it won’t last long, it’s a passing phase, because in 2014 the new rules mean a totally new generation of F1 cars.

Ferrari, arguably F1′s most stylish brand, has today unveiled the F2012. It’s a car whose nose is aesthetically challenged, but if it’s fast, no-one at Maranello will care about that. And it needs to be fast, because this needs to be the year Ferrari gets back into the winners’ circle on a regular basis.

The nose is a significant talking point for aesthetic reasons, but the pull rod front suspension is a talking point from an engineering stand point. It’s not been done for a while and it shows the current Ferrari technical management are not averse to taking risks.

“I’m sure that this season I can say it will be a red season.” This was the confident prediction of Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo as the Italian team pulled the wraps off the radical-looking car that it hopes will take it back to world championship-winning ways in 2012.

The Formula 1 world had long been expecting Ferrari to ‘go aggressive’ with the design of their new car in wake of two seasons largely playing third fiddle to Red Bull and McLaren and so it was little surprise that the new challenger unveiled at Maranello on Friday, titled the F2012, was more outwardly different to its predecessor than was the case with the latest McLaren earlier this week.

With severe snow and ice in the area having forced the team to abandon plans to do the unveiling event at their Fiorano test track, and instead run a purely online ceremony via their website, team principal Stefano Domenicali joined race drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa on stage for the reveal of the car on stage before a recorded message from president Luca di Montezemolo was played in.

Montezemolo had already previously been quoted as describing the F2012 as “ugly” and the car duly features a new-style stepped nose – first seen on the Caterham CT01 last week but which didn’t feature on the more conventional-looking McLaren. Ferrari’s interpretation of the new nose-height regulations appears the most aggressive yet though with the angle down to the nose particularly sharp and then flattening out dramatically. The rear of the car is far sleeker though, with tighter sidepods and tightly-packaged rear bodywork as Ferrari attempt to claw downforce back lost through the banning of blown diffusers.

The design programme has been led by new technical director Pat Fry and much is expected of the new car. After being criticised for being too cautious with designs in recent years, Domenicali admitted that they had “learned” from the past and developed a new car that features “plenty of novelties and new developments”.The radical design appeared to impress both race drivers, with Massa expressing delight at its “very aggressive” appearance, while effective number one driver Alonso hopes it will give him the basis from which he can finally win his third world title. “It looks very different actually from what we’ve seen in the last two years,” he said. “I believe in the skills we have here at Ferrari, we always have to be optimistic. We have to fight for this title and get as many points in every race.”

For Massa, meanwhile, although it may only be the start of February, it was made clear that there would be no hiding place for him this season – the final one of his Ferrari contract. The vultures have been circling the 30-year-old for some time in the wake of two largely lacklustre seasons alongside Alonso, and at the launch di Montezemolo sent out a clear message to the long-serving driver: “Massa has to do something great, and something special, after a non-positive season. We are offering him the best conditions to do a great job.”

The Brazilian hasn’t won a race since melodramatic season finale of 2008 in Brazil when he came within about 30 seconds of being champion. In wake of what’s come since for Massa – including the Hungarian GP accident on 2009 when he suffered a fractured skull – his days as a serious title challenger seem a long time ago now, but for 2012 he’s feeling positive about making a return to the winners’ circle.

“I’d like to say this is going to be quite an important year for me and the whole team as well,” Massa said. “We want to fight to get the championship back and I really believe in my skills, this team and this car. I really feel focused on winning – there are plenty of positive thoughts in my head. I want to start the championship in the right way and finish in the right way.”

Domenicali had begun his speech by announcing that major sponsor Santander had extended its agreement with the team for a further three years up until 2017. The Spanish bank came on board in 2010 at the same time as the arrival of Alonso, who last year committed his future to the team until 2016.

Visibility shouldn’t be worse than in previous years, the nose of the cars has been sloping down for quite a while and drivers were never truly able to see the front of their cars. The new regulations which stipulate an even lower nose than before will not change that.
As a matter of fact Heikki Kovalainen tweeted about this earlier this week and confirmed that the new lower noses don’t reduce visibility as they couldn’t see their nose anyway even in previous years.

Although I voted that they look awful, no-one will care if they are winning. The mclaren looks great, but if its slow, it won’t be long before they’re copying the others. We won’t really know until Australia if the ferrari is quick compared to the rest.

Whilst I agree that so far, with the exception of the McLaren MP4-27 which is beautiful, the new nose designs are awful. I’m sure we’ll all get past the questionable aesthetics soon enough. Things are beautiful if you love them and things are beautiful when they win. I’m eager to see the approach RBR are going to take.

I would really, and I mean really like to know what the difference aerodynamically is between the two. Efficiency wise as well.

Many others here have said, and I’m thinking it may be true – that Mclaren are not showing their final nose on the launched car. They knew it would be the way the cars would look, so by putting a different nose they are making everyone in the press show the “beautiful” car and say how ugly others are compared to McLaren. Then they will show their broken nose in testing.

However, they don’t need a “broken nose”. The bulkhead height on the M/P4-27 is below the maximum, unlike the other cars we’ve seen. Their very different approach with the low bulkheads, low nose and snow-plough means they comply without the need for the stepped-nose design. I agree the McLaren will be changed during testing, but given their completely different front-end design philosophy, the nose shape won’t change. To do so would require a completely new monocoque and crash-testing.

Do you think a lot of these cars are in their final form, just the new ferrari has last years wings (front and rear) and seem to have taken a very simple approch to the step (compared to the CT1 and Force Indias curves in that area)

McLarens have had a lower-than-average nose for some time now and in the end of last year their car was as fast as the Red Bull, so I guess they must have felt pretty comfortable with keeping the nose low this time. Their “snow plow”-vane seems to work pretty well, so why change?

I voted awful because they are, but to be honest, if the cars are fast, it won’t matter.
We will get used to this look in a race or two and all the talk will move from their looks to their speed and new innovations.

“I’m sure that this season I can say it will be a red season.” I agree; there will be many red faces in Australia.

“Massa has to do something great, and something special, …” It is the Alonso factor which has dented Massa’s confidence and hope. Ferrari has given Massa a car but not the necessary kind of support or the opportunity to finish in front of Alonso. I hope Massa wins the title instead of Alonso.

Vettel won two championships without the help of his team mate. But if Alonso to win, he will need Massa’s help. Or other front running cars should bread down.

Alonso needs Massa’s help to win a title? The first two he won he had hardly any help from team mates. Vettel had no help from his team mate? Help involves a team-mate that takes points/wins from others. Webber was leading at the final race of his first title season. The facts speak for themselves.

Vettel had at least 3 wins, bahrain, Australia, and Korea, that he didn’t get due to car failure in 2010, he should have won with a much larger margin. His breaks broke in Spain too that year, and I’m pretty sure there was at least one other instance where he had a mechanical failure and lost significant points.

They could remove the step by producing a new nosecone that has a slope upwards and extending back to meet the top of the step.

The bodywork incorporating the step itself is almost certainly a separate cover over the chassis because it doesn’t appear to have any access hatches in it to get at the brakes and suspension. So there’s nothing to stop that being redesigned either.

The nose has to be at the height it is where it is. There is no way to alter the chassis now, as it is homologated at the crash tests. They have a built in 7.5 mm step requirement that will not go away. I am very puzzled by the pull rod front suspension angles; there will be enormous loads and very little travel with those angles. How are the going to get shock absorbers to work? It almost seems like they won’t have any suspension movement at all.

Removing the “step” would involve creating a whole new monocoque (with a lower joint to the nose cone) and whole new crash tests. It would also mean that the aero-design would have to be completely overhauled, because the lower end nose will impose a completely new air flow to the sidepods and the floor, all the way back to the rear. It’s almost like designing a whole new car and you don’t do that if you’re not in desperate need to do so.

Unless the rules have changed, they can change their car, just its a massive task for any team and espcially with the RRA in place.
I remember Mclaren updating their MP4/18 to B spec, that was fundamentally a new chassis mid season, but because they had had such a poor year, it made no difference to their championship

They have a lower bulkhead height on the monocoque. Everyone else builds to the maximum height to get the most air possible under the nose. McLaren use a low nose in combination with their snow-plough device underneath it to generate the same performance.

Hi James,
A pretty awful looking car at the front but sleek at the back. What are your thoughts on these stepped noses? In the regulations, I think, the FIA have said that they have lowered the nose to stop the front of the car going into the cockpit of another car in the event of being hit in the side. These noses look terribly high and look as though they would go straight into the cockpit and could result in some pretty horrific accidents!

I bet where the front wing supports meet the underside of the nose isn’t as rigid as other parts. They way it can push then section and tilt the wing down. The very thin and curling nose would also lend very well to this flexi-wing method.

I suppose we are all hopng that the ‘ugly’ noses seen so far prove to be slow and they get back to something more like the mclaren.
the ferrari,caterham and force india are uglier then a Ford Edsel and thats saying something! http://www.edsel.net/eds58.JPG

I know I probably will get hammered for this. I actually think that it’s beautyfull in an agressive, purposefull way. It has some faint relation to ferrari 312 t4, which won them WDC in 79.. Maybe its just me (Ferrari fan since 77). dont know. If it wins races it’s a thing of beauty, if not they’ll

The rule changes seem to have forced many of the 2012 designs to have this stepped nose – which to me looks wrong. It’s not pretty. I can understand why there’s the rule, but would it not have been better to have had a minimum area below a mandated height – that’s what would help in a nose-to-side impact, spreading the load at a level where the protection exists.

I hope this Ferrari can challenge Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren, so that we have an exciting season.

James, I’ve been waiting for your feature on the Ferrari car and it has arrived. Thanks!

A few questions and firstly the stepped-nose. I’m no expert on aero but would the stepped effect not disrupt airflow? Would it offer any benefits over the ‘normal’ nose? I wonder if Mclaren have got it right and interpreted the rules well. Look forward to seeing the RB on Monday to see what they come up with!

As for the pull-rod front suspension. How would it differ in performance (warm and cool conditions) in terms of grip and tyre life compared to push-rods?

1) The additional intake/scoop above the drivers head, its just slightly behind. 2) The fin on the engine cover. 3) The side-pod consruction as a whole looks interesting. Especially the way in tapers off towards the end. 4) The black aero piece just under the stepped portion of the nose. 5) Not sure of the exact term here, but the verticle part joining the nose to the front wing seems to have a large surface area.

Can anyone shed any light on these 5 points above please? Scarbs maybe?

Of course, theres also rumours about a super-special floor design but we wont see that unless its on a crane!

But hey, from the nose backwards, that’s a really pretty car Ferrari got there & from the very confident sounds of everyone at Maranello, am sure it will be pretty quick for in the past decade, Ferrari have had a knack for putting out rockets every even years e.g. 2002, 2004, 2006 (ish), 2008 and 2010 (ish)

Anyway, a quick Ferrari is good for the sport, I personally am hoping the F1 gods keep an eye on that saint Alonso like the have always done since 2007.

Yes, Alonso wants every trophy on offer in 2012 so bad, he could almost taste them but us real F1 fans know exactly what he’s up to.

You see Alonso knows if he wins the year he would not only get immortalized with a wax figure at Madame Tussauds as the most complete driver EVER but he would also join that very exclusive bunch of drivers i.e. Senna & Schumi as drivers that won their third WDC at the age of 31.

But luckily the F1 gods & real F1 fans know he doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as those two savages (which should 3 savages TBH – Fangio) because Alonso is average in qualifying & pretty clumsy in the wet plus has never had a dominant wet race performance.

So methinks the F1 gods are going to throw a bloody tool box into that Ferrari front wing’s mouth and if the snow storm at Maranello is a sign of things to come (Ferrari had to abandon their official launch), then we’re going to have many more things not going Ferrari’s way e.g. More cold weather races this year = More tyre heating issues.

May the good times roll.

P.s.

Am already getting nervous on what a Massa desperate for wins is willing to do *cringes*

The enourmous mouth on that sir is due to ferrari moving the sidepods rearwards, giving more room to one of the most important areas for aero performance – hence the need to reinforce the side driver protection (probably the reason why they failed the crash test) shows that they are pushing the limits. The complete new front and rear suspension is a risk, but risk is good..!! Im guessing the stepped nose does not have a big effect on aero as the underside of the car is much more important… Eg highest nose possible, huge tongue.

Alonso is deffinetly the most complete driver, and there is absolute no doubt that he will win if the car is – not the fastest, but just about the fastest. He is one of the few drivers like shumi and senna that can literally push and pull the pace of the team forward. He has a never-die attitude which would make most of the drivers on the grid just that little bit special which is the difference between champions and the also-runs.

Although as always talk is cheap and qualifying of the first race is coming up fast… Lets see if the pretty Mclaren and the ugly ferrari can spoil the Bulls party…! Cant wait

If the old adage of “if it looks right, it is right” is anything to go by, it won’t be a read season this year.
My personal feeling is that straight line speed will be vital this year, as teams have now got the measure of DRS, which appears to be much more targetted as a qualifying tool, this year.

So, with this and the earlier reveals I wonder about McLaren. Have they missed a trick? Have they something even moren revolutionary in mind and are holding back the true reveal? Is it just that their overall package works with a slightly more traditional nose? Much of the car that McLaren revealed looked like a dummy mock-up to me, it all just looked so clean and tidy, too clean and tidy! Time will tell.

I just think McLaren have chosen a different philosophy rather than missed out. The main chassis shape is fixed, so I don’t see them being able to raise the bulkhead and adopting the bumped nose. They’ve chosen to have the whole front end lower. Time will tell which works.

Clearly though McLaren have less room underneath to generate as large a mass flow of air through the underside of the car. They’re not stupid though, I’m sure they have good reasons for their choice.

From this angle, that step in the nose doesn’t look very aerodynamic. It might be the angle from which the photo is taken, but the look and the aero will both be highly improved if they would fill the space between the very front of the nose and the top of the chassis where the step begins.

Here’s the link from a picture of the F2012 car modified as I see it Please be gentle with my painting skills

I think you will find the nose is at the maximum allowed height for it’s entirety, and an angled nose would be too high and illegal.
The higher section is the old maximum nose height which ends at the exact point the new lower nose starts.

What, the oldest team in F1, unprecedented success over the last decade, a design team of top level engineers as most other teams employ?
I’m with you Spyros.
On all the forums I’ve visited, this question gets asked countless times, and I’m scratching my head trying to figure out why casual observers, ie us, who don’t work in F1 on any level seem to understand more about F1 aerodynamics than an established F1 giant.
I’ve looked at the Mclaren and apart from their nose, there is nothing inspiring about it at all.
Gary Anderson was quoted by a member here saying much the same.
Yet apart from the Ferrari nose, there’s some interesting work going on elsewhere on this car.
Pat Fry used to be a Mclaren man, he would have brought that way of thinking to Ferrari, yet maybe Fry, like Newey has found a different organisation which allows their ability to flourish.
Lets be honest, apart from 1998 and 1999, whilst Ferrari were building up strength, Newey never won another championship again at Mclaren.
Regarding aesthetics, well this is not a car to be sold to the public. It’s a tool to win Championships, and if it wins, trust me, the Tifosi won’t complain
1992 was meant to be a gorgeous Ferrari, the twin floored “fighter jet” car, yet was a disaster.
1996 was ugly as sin, yet Schumacher won 3 races in it.

I thought it matter the distance from the ground to the lower part of the nose. If the nose is lower, it will not catapult the car in the air in case of a collision.
Never thought about the distance from the ground to the top of the nose would count.

Hey James, arguably a very bold design. Where are the sidepod wings that Rory Byrne was reported to be working on?
Could that be something that Ferrari might introduce to the car at the final pre-season test or did it just turn out to be a rumour that didn’t ring true?

I have come to the conclusion that Piola’s drawing was actually a scarlet\red hang-glider perched on the tub, for Felippe to fly off into the distance with, after another bump with Lewis [I am joking folks!]

Does not matter how it looks as long as it wins race’s.
I think Mclaren are going to be the odd one’s out, we will find out in Aus if they have got it right our wrong, hopefully it’s the latter and Ferrari have got it right.

The ugliest Ferrari I have ever seen. These noses should be banned on grounds of aesthetics alone. It does matter what F1 cars look like as ugly cars will damage the sport’s image in the long run. I just hope that the Mclaren wipes the floor with the rest of the ugly mob.

James, it might be a silly comment, but won’t that nose step cause a bit of drag to a certain extend, even by a few hundreths of a second? Why not have the cockpit area continue smoothly until the end of the nose?

“Enzo would be turning in his grave. He would rather have sat out 2 seasons than put the dancing donkey on that monstrosity”

Not at all! To Enzo, all that mattered was performance; he hated selling to customers who would not be taking his cars to the limits.
I really love the F2012. The stepped nose does not really bother me that much. As far as a I amconcerned this is one interesting car. I am keen to see it in its full configuration rather than the stripped down version that was presented to the press.

It has been said that Ferrari have an innovative rear wing. Could the design of the flat edged nose and the step be to maximize the performance of the rear wing?? i.e. the nose cuts through the air cleanly separating the airflow below and above the car with the step deflecting airflow towards the rear wing.

James, *if* both the Ferrari-style solution and the McLaren solution do both produce results, do you think we could be in for a 2007-style season where tracks are generally either suited to one style of car over the other? (I think it was the wheelbase of the car in 07 that was the big difference between Ferrari and Mclaren leading to ‘Ferrari Tracks’ and ‘McLaren Tracks’, was it not?)

Yes we get it every year to an extent, but I remember it being particularity prevalent in 07. On a side note, if the McLaren is the only car that doesn’t use a stepped nose of some description, they’re going to look awfully out of place on the grid.

Well yes, and it seems to work pretty well for the platypus. Often following natures designs results in benefits. This may be mk1 for f1 stepped nose. But for our creature friends its after many years of evolution.

Sure looks like a red truck for ploughing. It had better be fast so we can miss the ugliness of it. I voted Awful.

The front really has killed the high tech feel, I’m trying to understand the aerodynamics. Why didn’t they curve it smoothly down to the nose cone like McLaren. Well I sure hope McLaren stay as is when the real thing happens.

A bold design…but Pig UGLY!
I feel for Massa this season. Am I alone in thinking that the only hope of him retaining his seat is if he beats Alonso? Even if he could do this, I don’t think he’d be alowed to!
Poor guy…

i think he just needs to show that he can… so that when alonso has an off day, massa can move over and give the position to alonso. we saw this so often with barrichelo and irvine, where they would concede position to schumacher when he was having a bad day. as of the last couple of years, massa has usually been several places behind alonso, and therefore useless to helping alonso win the wdc.

The higher nose (Ferrari, etc) allow more airlow under the front. The McLaren has a lower nose design so this allows them to have a more sweeping profile. While it does not allow as much airflow, they have used a similar approach last year and they were not far off the RBR pace (sometimes faster)

Need another box on survery! The cars look good from some angles. If it wasn’t for the nose, the rest of the machine looks pretty nice, lots intricate detailing and sculpting. I am most interested to see how Newey deals with it.

James, now that 3 teams seem to be employing the “stepped nose”(so far). I was wondering if you could shed some light on the benefits of using this design. Obviously it’s not for aesthetics but is it strictly aerodynamic?

Here’s a thought; there has not been a pretty car since the 50s, and that’s what I love about the sport, there’s only one thing important on a car – things that make it go faster. That’s what makes an F1 car beautiful, its speed.

Oh dear what have they done that is ducking ugly!!! well that,s three out of 4 that all look pretty much the same so lets see what Redbull come out with.
0n that comparing to the Mclaren which is still ducking ugly but much better, Mclaren’s car looks likely to be either really good or really bad on race day unless that picks are a complete throw away from reality.

I think there are legality issues with several cars. There may be some funky things going on with winglets mounted on brake ducts for example. There is some very edgy stuff still going on around the diffuser too

I hope the Ferrari is on the pace just to see how good fernando really is. He hasn’t had a proper good car since 2007. Deserves one now. If he gets one now beware as I think he has improved massively since then and he wasn’t exactly bad back then either.

That,s a neat little feature then from that point of view, They should obv be able to lap a little quicker too when the wing is broken/missing i prosume? still though it looks terrible though!
Wonder if Mclarens choice not to go down that trend of design would have anything to do with the fact they have went into the production car market i.e. in fear of it effecting road car sales if there F1 cars look like dogs, i wonder!

Those who drafted the sporting regulations are ultimately responsible for this not-so-great chassis evolution and one team dominance. Hopefully, 2012 will be a nice shakeup even if RBR is still the car to beat.

To me this feels like a bad state of affairs for F1 from a technical standpoint. Aero dominates design due to regulations and restrictions, and now further restrictions have meant a non ideal optimum solution has been found by several manufacturers. Ultimately they are now trying to find marginal gains from small changes to what appear to be spec cars.

With the addition of drs and the overtaking clarification it makes this season, on a first glance, appear to be even more artificial than the last. However if it results in more closer racing then myself and most other fans may not care. I guess this cycle of change has happened before, and theres nothing to suggest this iteration is any different

If the FIA once moved to ban winglets because they were ugly, surely they need to make sure these noses are gone next season. One thing is for sure, either Mclaren will have a dropped nose mid-season or the other teams will go conventional. Assuming that part of the nose isn’t part of the chassis that can’t be changed mid-season.

The FIA didn’t ban them for being ugly, but thoughts are that Bernie thought they looked ugly on TV, and pushed the FIA into making something up to get them banned. The 2007 McLaren had quite pronounced ones.

With homologated chassis, I suspect that ‘What you see is what you get’ this season, so the Mclaren is not going to develop a step (from what I’ve read elsewhere, it doesn’t need one based upon their entire ‘nose down, arse up’ aero philosophy) and the Ferrari and others aren’t going to lose their ‘Ugly Betty’ noses.

Now I’m just an electronics engineer, but it’s difficult to see how that lego-block step isn’t going to adversely affect the airflow over the top of the car. Caterham’s solution looks a lot less severe in its implementation, making me wonder how much the first race incarnation of the Ferrari’s nose will differ from what we see here.

It looks hideous but from the nose back there’s some nice details here, such a same they couldn’t think of something as inventive as they’ve done around the side pods to solve this nose issue, but as we all say if it’s quick they won’t care, but no-one will have a picture of this on their wall and the sponsors will hate having this on their promotional material.

But a winner is a winner, hope the McLaren smashes then and can’t wait to see what Newey has come up with!

Hi James
Can you please clarify thing for me? I don’t understand exactly how the FIA gives the “green light” for a car design. 3 cars until now have the “platypus” nose and McLareb has a more conventional nose. Are the cars measured when they have the crash tests? When are the cars checked and measured to see if they are in the specified limits?
I assume that at some point before the season all cars are inspected and approved for racing.

The F2012 might not have a pleasing nose but the rear looks very interesting. The air intake and the engine cover are done nicely.

Has an ugly car ever won the WC? Isn’t there an old adage in F1 that fast cars are usually beautiful (although it has to be said beautiful cars are not always fast)? It’ll be interesting to see whether the Bulls go the Ferrari/Caterham or the McLaren route.

(Wow, Ferrari, McLaren and…Caterham in the same sentence. It’s a funny old world!)

Yes I’d also like to know the answer to that one. James could you get an explanation from any team’s aero guy? It seems hard to believe that ‘small step for man’ has any better effect than a straight sloping nose!

Shouldn’t we be waiting to see what Brawn and Newey have come up with before we vote on the 2012 cars?

As a Red Bull fan (I started watching F1 when they were Jaguar) I kinda hope they come up with something that looks good and is faster than the strange step-nosed things Ferrari, FI and Caterham have come up with.

So my second questions: What’s the collective noun for platypus? You might need it in commentary this year…

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Last year, the U shaped side pods on the McLaren were appealing??? If anything that looked like lego! I bet to McLaren fans it was appealing… to me it look like.. [mod]

The U-shaped side pods were distinctive, but hard to classify them as “ugly” or “aesthetically challenged”, like the platypus noses are. The U-shaped side pods would still be around if EBD’s were still in play.

How could ferrari allow that to roll out of the factory – ferrari is passion style and magic I guess there’s been too much wine drinking in that factory. – It’s like its been designed by homer Simpson anyone remember the car homer created lol

You would think that Ferrari would vehemently oppose technical regulations that force them into creating such an eyesore. With their brand being all about beauty, I’m sure they hate uncovering something that looks like it’s got a broken nose!

Of all the stepped noses, this one looks the best. Of all the Ferraris in the past few years, this one is the most innovative. The exhausts appear to be directed at the diffuser, too, which is a novel work-around the new rules. The overhead view, from the cockpit back, is gorgeous. I said earlier that McLaren always highly develops the details, but this car seems to have matched their eye for curves and ripples and swoops. Well done, Ferrari.

The exhausts cannot be directed at the diffuser. They’re being directed at the rear wheels/brakes. The RBR did this last year, which was cited as the reason Vettel was able to pull a gap on the opening laps.

I hate to make comparisons, but when I look at the 2010 Indy car, I see a similar “step” in the front and side of the driver cockpit. This design not only allows the correct amount of air flow underneath the car, it must help with the top speed as well.

The Ferrari may be using this “step” in combination with the DRS to increase the top speed of the car. We may be looking at the most efficient way to balance the drag of down force with the slippery aspect of top speed.

Even with no proof, I can all but guarantee that the McLaren will be sporting a “step” in the nose prior to the first test. I am also hoping for a radical design from Lotus.

In order for the McLaren to get a step in its nose they would have to totally change the shape of their chassis. The step is a result of the cockpit being higher than the maximum height permitted for the maximum height of the nose. McLaren’s cockpit is lower than their rivals, who have raised theirs to the maximum to increase the volume underneath and maximise airflow to the rear of the car.

McLaren have a splitter underneath their nose that helps with the airflow allowing them to run a lower cockpit, this making it in line with the nose, hence no step. In order to put a step in they would have to put the nose even lower – which would be severely detrimental to the airflow to the rear of the car.

One thing McLaren can’t do is raise the cockpit as this part of the car design is homologated and is not allowed to be changed.

The step is not an innovation – it is the result of building a car to the volumetric limits of the regulations. The teams with the step are those who have followed the Red Bull philosophy to designing a car to get as much clean air to the back of the car.

Whether it is a smart decision or not, McLaren have continued their philosophy, which features a lower nose, lower centre of gravity and less compromised sprung front end. Now, while it might make sense to follow the Red Bull philosophy given their success of the last three seasons, plus the fact with the EBD banned you need the solution that offers the best natural rear end aero, it should be noted that the Red Bull philosophy has been impacted by the new regulations while the McLaren one has not. They can continue to run the same front end whereas the high nose approach has had to be adapted.

Having said that, so far, I think the Force India looks by far and away the best packaged car, but am eagerly awaiting to see what Adrian Newey has in store.

I can’t see Mclaren with a step nose before mid-season if they needed one, their chassis wouldn’t accomodate it, it’s too low.
From what I have read, it’s to do with their design philosophy and heavily sprung chassis, it’s not as simple as bolting on an F Duct.

Many of the 09 cars looked like dogs with their large front wings and tiny rear wings. However if the racing is better than last year will we all be complaining? Can’t see their being too many of those slow motion shots with the cars tho in the end of races clips.

They’re all fast.
I’ve just been playing with my calculator and I hope I got this right. I chose Japan at random. Track is 5.807 ks. Last season Vettel qualified 1st at 1,30.466 and Button was second at 1,30.475 or 0.009 seconds slower. Over close to 6 kilometers this means he was slower by about half a meter. All this amazing engineering calling the Red Bull a huge success and the McLaren a dud (last year) was about half a meter over 5807 meters.

Australia will tell all. Even the trials will be only so-so informative.

Post 22 wrote “Am already getting nervous on what a Massa desperate for wins is willing to do *cringes*”

I find what Massa might do interesting this season. Hamilton is saying I’m cool. Will Massa consciously or unconsciously be aiming for him? Will he be a pin-ball in the pack at the start? Can he get his psychology (with help?) in order, to perform at his best? Will there be many rainy races?

Already, it’s not a good start to the year for Hamilton. Apart from receiving plenty of sighs and groans in response to his photo shoot, he has also been called a coward and ‘pathetic’ by the Sutil family.

This comes after him declaring that in 2012 he will come back stronger and ‘it will be his year’. Come on Lewis, enough with your false promises already! Just shut up and drive!

You think Massa is going to be indifferent to causing crashes in the 3rd or 4th row? Why oh why would he want to do that? He needs to start winning races, or at least start scoring podiums regularly. It’s unfathomable that he didn’t score one last year.

I’m hoping that Massa has learned that he can’t just turn in or crowd out, and get away with it (like he tried vs Alonso in Germany ’07, against Bourdais in Japan ’08, and Hamilton in India ’11).

I find it very disappointing that much of the talk is about the nose, and the consequent look of the car. This is because of the regulations on nose height and front bulkhead heights.

There are far more interesting parts of the car though. The front pull rod suspension, the split bargeboards, the exhaust blowing the rear brake ducts, and the much tighter packaging at the rear of the car, yet there is barely any mention of them here.

This car; every bolt and carbon sinew, every flowing line and jarring angle embodies the ambition of Ferrari’s lead driver. The prancing horse is now bent and twisted in his image, it articulates his aggression and personifies his undiluted and irresistible will to win. What other driver on the grid could have done this to Ferrari? It is astonishing. Viva Fernando Alonso.

Just reading through comments again this evening, it occured to me, Mclaren has had a low nose design concept for some years.
I have to ask, why does Lewis have trouble with other cars, hitting them from the rear, Webber and Massa and maybe as the nose is low, the mirrors point upwards so he can’t see the Kobayashi’s and Massa’s of this world…

Ok, were are the innovations they promised?
I mean did Pat Fry improved at all the f150
and did Macca failed because Pat was no there
If Mercedes produces a fast car they will have to
deal with Schumi and maybe sometimes they
face Kimi and of course Lewis.But if Alonso finds
it hard no problem Massa pays the price and Kubica
comes in. Does it matter that he will not have driven
at all for two seasons. Serious Santader must be
paying a lot …

Wow let’s hope you guys don’t judge your women they way you judge this car! I love it, its aggresive, almost brutish, kind of like a polar bear. We’ll find out just how ugly it is when the rubber hits the road.

Unfortunately, this like will never come again. Tiny car (go to the IMS Museum if you get the chance – so much for the “big” roadster, an accident of history that they were regarded as large, but that’s a different retrogrouch rant), or the Lotus on the same page, etc.